Welcome to Task Force X
by Lilpixiegirl2511
Summary: Harley Quinn is abducted from Arkham to be a part of an underground military task force using super-villains to pull off incredible missions. Controlled by both Amanda Waller and a nanite bomb injected in their necks, success means time shaved off their sentences, failure means death. As the team comes together bonds are formed and a chance at redemption is offered.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! I managed to shake a little free time loose to get some writing done. Legacy II is still on hiatus until my move is complete since it requires so much more of my time in regard to research and emotional output but I have something new to keep you busy until I can focus on that story again. This, while similar, is not a part of my usual universe. Let's call this my Earth 2, shall we? This is based on the Suicide Squad comic books, not so much the movie, although I may make a few small references to it along the way. Hope you enjoy it.**

Welcome to Task Force X

Chapter 1 – Arkham Asylum

"Harley are you listening to me?"

Harley Quinn was leaned forward, arms curled around her shins and staring blankly ahead at the wall in front of her in the calming blue confines of her therapist's office. She had zoned out halfway through Joan's little pep talk. Dr. Joan Leland, former colleague and friend, had been treating Harley again since she and her psycho clown lover, The Joker, had been detained more than fourteen months prior. She had almost two whole months of progress with Harley until the unthinkable happened. The Joker escaped Arkham Asylum, leaving a heartbroken & grieving Harley Quinn behind. Since then Harley had become depressed and was unresponsive in therapy sessions. Joan sighed and pushed a lock of hair off her forehead in a frustrated manner. She raised her voice in an attempt to get her patients attention once again.

" _Harley!"_

The sad little blonde slowly turned her pigtailed head towards the voice. Her eyes were glazed and empty, her pink lips pulled downwards in a defeated frown.

"Harley, I know this has been hard on you but it's been over a year now. You need to start talking to me. I can't help you if you won't talk to me."

She stared in contempt at Joan but remained silent.

"Okay Harley, if that's how you're going to play it then I'll cut the session short and you can go to solitary."

Harley's face morphed into one of abject horror.

" _Solitary?_ What gives?"

Joan solemnly shook her head.

"The staff is painting your cell… _again_. So, since you won't cooperate with me, you'll have to stay in the hole until the new paint dries."

Harley in her love-struck obsession with The Joker, repeatedly filled the plain white walls of her cell with drawings and scribbles. Any blank space seemed to soon be filled with pictures of hearts and grinning clown faces, J + H and Mrs. Harleen Joker scrawled in loopy script around them. They had already had to re-paint her cell two times prior in the past twelve and a half months and still couldn't figure out where she was hiding the writing implements.

"Fine! You want me to talk, then let's just get it over with already." Harley scoffed and crossed her arms angrily over her chest. "Ya really think you can fix me Doc?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm. "Well, then the jokes on you, I'm irreparably damaged goods, toots. No hope for this dope. I'm just a demented clown girl in love."

Joan had heard almost these exact statements about Harley once before, only it was from the mouth of another patient and not Harley herself.

"Harley, that's _HIM_ talking. You need to let him go. Stop letting him control your thoughts. He doesn't define you. And he doesn't care about you. Why do you insist on pining for him?"

"You don't know him. _He loves me!_ He's just a little angry with me is all. He'll cool down eventually and we'll be sweethearts again."

Joan would never be able to understand the attraction Harley had for that sick monster. Never had she seen so damaging and dysfunctional a relationship as the Joker and Harley Quinn. No matter how much he used and abused her, both physically and emotionally, she still loved him. In prior sessions, when things were 'good' with the couple Harley would spend hours telling Joan about all of the wonderful things he would say and do for her. Surprisingly Joan had actually witnessed several of these moments of supposed 'tenderness' from Joker, but she wasn't buying it.

Joker was nice to Harley only when it suited him or when he needed something from her or if he simply wanted his ego stroked. He routinely manipulated her by twisting her obsession for him. It particularly sickened Joan every time Harley wanted to talk about their sex life together. She would usually try to focus on polka dotted elephants for fear of developing a mental image of a naked Joker in her mind's eye.

"Don't you understand that he is incapable of loving anyone but himself?"

"That's not true. He does love me! _He does!_ "

"Harley, he abandoned you. Left you here alone to rot away in a cell. What makes you think he's ever coming back for you? Has he ever been away this long before?"

Harley's face visibly fell. She had honestly been thinking those same thoughts lately. He'd never been away from her this long. Was he ever going to forgive her?

"No, he hasn't, but I screwed up really bad this time. He'll come around, he just needs more time, I guess." She replied gloomily.

Harley really had screwed up. Their last playdate with the Bat didn't go as planned and it was all her fault. She only had one job that night; to watch Mistah J's back and to stay out of his way. He told her,

' _If you see a Bat Brat, smash em' with your mallet, but don't you dare interfere with me and Batsy. Got it kiddo?'_

She nodded vigorously and promised she wouldn't let him down. But she broke her promise. It was an accident of course, but that wasn't going to matter to Mistah J. While her Puddin wrestled with the Bat she was quietly patrolling the perimeter of the warehouse they were in, looking for Robin, Batgirl or any of the other Bat-groupies when in her peripheral vision she saw a dark figure slowly creeping up behind her lover and Guanoman. She wasn't sure but she had a sneaking suspicion it was that pompous horse's ass, Nightwing. Well she'd show the jerk he shouldn't mess with her Mr. J! Being as stealthy as she could manage she cartwheeled through the darkness to get the drop on ol' Wingnut before he got the drop on her Puddin. She raised her mallet high above her head preparing to bring it down on the unsuspecting vigilante as her lover furiously tangled with the Bat mere feet away. Harley stuck out her tongue in concentration and squinted to keep the inevitable spray of blood out of her eyes. The Bat tackled the Joker onto the ground at the same instant Harley forcefully swung her hammer downward. She connected solidly and winced as she heard the familiar, bloodcurdling scream of agony. She slowly opened one eye, afraid to look at what she had done. Nightwing must have dove out of the way and what she ended up smashing was not Wingnut's melon but Mistah J's right hand, shattering most of the bones in the process. He glared murderously at her as he screamed and foamed at the mouth. He writhed and flailed about trying to get to her even though he was being restrained by both Batman and Nightwing. It was one of the very first times in her life she was actually glad Batsy was there.

"You useless ninny! Are you incapable of doing _ANYTHING_ right? I told you not to interfere and now _look_ at what you've done! My hand! You've ruined it!" He thrashed towards her gnashing his teeth. "You had better hope they throw me in solitary, Harley, because when I get my hands on you you're dead! You hear me? DEAD!"

Tears filled her eyes as she dropped to her knees, embracing one of his legs.

"I-I'm so sorry Mistah J! It was an accident! I didn't mean it! Please. Please forgive me Puddin! I love you!"

His eyes narrowed to intimidating little slits. He stopped his thrashing, but kicked out at Harley in order to extract his leg from her grip. She fell onto her side with a "whoomph" of breath escaping her lips. The wind was knocked out of her due to the force of the blow. She was holding her stomach in pain and vaguely thinking about the new patch of bruises that was sure to sprout there soon. She feebly looked up into the ferocious face of her lover.

"And I _hate_ you, you incompetent, worthless imitation of a sidekick. Stay away from me Harley or you'll regret it!"

Nightwing cuffed her as Batman took Joker away. Nightwing actually looked like he felt sorry for her, which made her feel even worse. They were both taken back to Arkham, but on Batman's suggestion, Joker was being housed in one of the Special Containment Units in the sub-basement of the asylum in case he tried to make good on his threat to kill Harley. It was the last time she ever saw him. She had heard through the grapevine that Joker had to have reconstructive surgery on his hand, including several steel rods and pins, but that was the last she heard until news of his escape circulated throughout the inmate population. And here they were over a year later and he still hadn't come for her.

"Harley."

Joan needed to get Harley out of her own head and talking again before she lost her for good.

"Harley you haven't received so much as a postcard for over a year now from this man that supposedly loves you. I think it's time to face the facts. He's not coming back this time."

Harley shot Joan a nasty look.

"He _is_ coming back for me."

"No, Harley. He's not. Don't you think it's time to move on with your own life? You're an intelligent girl, you know we can rehabilitate you and then you can finally live a normal, healthy life again. You just need to let go of that clown and we can get started. Don't you want to re-join society? Get out of this dreary asylum and earn your freedom?"

"Yeah Joan, I do, but I can't just go back to _boring_. Mr. J taught me how to feel alive, I mean truly alive. A desk job, a three hundred square foot studio apartment and a cat ain't gonna cut it for me." She answered forlornly.

Dr. Leland glanced up at the clock on her wall. They were an hour over their session time already.

"I think we should stop right here for the day. Let's pick back up tomorrow at one in the afternoon and we can talk some more about what your options post-Arkham are, provided you commit to your treatment program."

Harley stuck her tongue out at Joan as she turned her back to call the guard into the office to unshackle Harley's ankles. Joan addressed Harley as the guard dealt with the locks.

"I'll walk with you down to Intensive treatment. If your cell isn't ready yet maybe I can get Jerimiah to allow us a walk on the roof for your good behavior today. At least until the paint dries."

At the same time Joan and the guard were escorting Harley back to her cell, the director of Arkham Asylum, Dr. Jerimiah Arkham had his hands full with a disruption of a very different kind than they were used to in the asylum. He trailed behind an escort of four heavily armed MP's and the large man who had introduced himself as Colonel Rick Flag, US Army. He was flustered by this sudden intrusion.

"Colonel Flag, I cannot release any of my patients to you. It's against protocol!"

The soldier stopped and turned to look down at the scrawny little man. He handed a dossier containing his current orders to the director.

"Dr. Arkham, the US government has taken jurisdiction over this inmate. You are to sign the release order and discharge this patient into our custody immediately or face a federal subpoena for obstruction."

His voice was cool and the man had a no-nonsense air about him. Arkham didn't want to ruffle any feathers but he also wanted answers.

"And where is she to be taken, Colonel?"

"I'm sorry but that is strictly classified information. From this point on, Harley Quinn is no longer your problem, Director."

He shoved the dossier and a pen firmly into Arkham's chest.

"This is highly unorthodox!"

Flag flashed Arkham an impatient look.

"Sign it and take us to her cell. Now."

Arkham quickly read the orders in his hands and sighed. The paperwork seemed to be legitimate. He flipped to the second page of documents and blanched as he read.

"We're to be under a gag order? What's the meaning of this?"

"As of this instant your files on Harley Quinn are sealed, my men will be packing those and taking those along with us as well. You and your staff are not to discuss this patient to anyone, under penalty of law. Like I said Director, Harley Quinn is not your problem anymore."

Reluctantly Arkham signed the necessary documents and handed then back to the Colonel. At the other end of the hallway stood a shocked looking Joan Leland and Harley Quinn, just returning from their session. Harley's eyes were the size of saucers.

"Where am I going?"

Flag turned to see the inmate staring at him and his men, obviously confused at the news that she was being transferred to a classified location.

"Miss Quinn, you're coming with us."

She glared at the uniformed meatheads. If she left Arkham, how was Joker going to find her when he finally forgave her?

"Like hell I am!"

Flag saw the defiance in her eyes. She was going to challenge them, he was sure of it. At least he'd get to see what she was made of. He turned to his men, all of whom were wearing flak jackets and full face helmets.

"Alpha team, subdue the prisoner and get her to the chopper." Flag then touched a small communicator in his ear. "Team Beta, have the files been requisitioned?"

"Yes sir. Everything is loaded and ready to go."

"Roger that."

The four soldiers approached Harley. Her face lit up into an evil little smile.

"Ooooh, it's been awhile since anyone played with me. This should be fun!"

Quick as a flash she bent at the waist pulling a shiv out of her sock and expertly stabbing it into the throat of the guard who had escorted her from her session. Joan screamed as his blood splashed across her face.

"Joan, you need to get outta here. Things are about to get _really_ nasty."

Joan didn't think twice or try to be a hero. She ran down the hallway, away from the blood and violence and dove behind a desk in the HR office as she heard the battle begin.

"Miss Quinn, come quietly and you'll be afforded additional amenities. Oppose us and they'll be taken away."

"Mistah J is coming for me, so I ain't going anywhere mister."

Flag gave a signal.

"Do it."

The first of his soldiers confidently stalked towards Harley. She was such a tiny little thing. What could one little woman do to him? He weighed 280, he'd destroy her. As he came within striking distance Harley jumped, grabbing an exposed pipe that hung from the ceiling. Her legs were still shackled and she used this to her advantage. She swung up and twisted her body in the air. The chain from her ankles expertly looped around his throat and began choking the air from him. A second soldier came up on her side to pistol whip her so she let go of the pipe, landing on her hands. She used the momentum to flip both herself and the soldier caught in her ankle chains, flinging him down the hall and away from her. She quickly got into a crouching position and pounced on the back of the second soldier. Before he could react, she ripped his helmet off and went for his ear. He screamed as her teeth cut and ripped his flesh. The soldier went down whimpering, holding his hand over the space where his ear used to be.

Harley was breathing hard, chest rising and falling erratically but she was still smiling widely, the soldiers' ear still clasped between her closed teeth, blood dripping down her face and orange jumpsuit. She spit the ear onto the dirty green linoleum and squared her eyes at the guy who was obviously in charge.

"So, who's next tough guy? You think _you_ can take me down?"

Flag was admittedly impressed. The girl was cuckoo for Coco Puffs and totally chaotic but she had some skills. Skills they could utilize. Flag nodded to his last two men.

"Let's get this done boys. Tranq her."

Harley's eyes widened and she turned to flee down the hallway behind her but the first soldier was back on his feet and blocking her path. She somersaulted off the walls trying to avoid the barrage of darts being fired at her but it was too late. She felt two sharp jabs, one in her left ass cheek and another in her neck. The dosage must have been heavy because she immediately dropped to her knees and her vision got blurry. Flag kneeled down next to her prone body.

"Miss Quinn, welcome to Task Force X."

Her vision blurred and separated as the sedative took effect. She spit a mouthful of blood and saliva at the Colonel.

"You'll be sorry for this assh…."

Then Harley's world went entirely black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, who knew unpacking over two hundred boxes would take so long? So I've finally moved, unpacked and gotten a lot of projects on the house finished so I should have a little more time to get some writing done. So sorry to my followers for the long delay in getting this chapter to you. Moving is a real bitch. But we're here finally and enjoying our new lake house. I have about a month before I have to go back to work so hopefully I will have this story completed before then. Hope everyone is doing great and as always please review. Your reviews help me improve as a writer and as I've been out of practice I could probably use some constructive feedback.**

WTX – Chapter 2

When Harley finally came to, she groggily realized that she had a sack covering her head. She shifted slightly and felt that her hands were shackled above her head and her bare feet were shackled to rings in what had to be a concrete floor. The sedative had been very strong and she was still a little out of it. She rolled her head to the side to try to listen. In her befuddlement she forgot what had transpired back at Arkham.

"Awww Puddin, is it Tuesday already?" She slurred. "You know I love being drugged and waking up in some new lair, but my arms are kinda hurtin."

Her head rocked back down towards the floor, the drugs running through her system making it hard to keep it upright. Her eyelids fluttered as she fought the drowsiness that was overtaking her. She distinctly heard the sound of a heavy metal door closing shut with a clang and footsteps approaching her.

"Puddin? Izzat you baby?"

As she tried to shake off the sedative she realized there was not one but three sets of footsteps heading towards her. The heaviest of these stopped a few feet in front of her as the other two continued approaching, coming to rest on either side of her body. A steely female voice barked an order.

"Take it off."

Suddenly the bag was yanked harshly from Harley's head. It took a few moments before her blurry vision cleared. She glanced briefly at the two men beside her. They were dressed in light blue scrubs with latex medical gloves on their hands and surgical masks obscuring their facial features. She squinted into the dark until she could finally focus on the woman standing before her. She guessed the stout black woman currently assessing her was probably in her late forties to early fifties. Her ankles bulged slightly over the sides of her low heeled red pumps, her fleshy calves sheathed in nylon stockings. She wore a navy blue skirt with a matching suit jacket, underneath which she wore a red button down blouse which strained a bit at the buttons due to her ample bosom. Red beads stretched across her thick neck, which led upwards to a set of full lips slathered in crimson lipstick. The mouth was drawn in a firm line, the nose above it wide and slightly flat. The woman's large brown eyes were so dark they seemed almost black, but were filled with intensity and obvious intelligence. Her thin eyebrows were drawn together on her narrow forehead above which was a thick, short afro covering the woman's head. On the wall behind the woman Harley could barely make out a large plaque that looked like a slightly open black triangle with two yellow arrows crossing it and the word ARGUS above it. A circle of words surrounded the emblem, which read United States of America above and Noster Quarere Incipere below. Harley met the woman's gaze in confusion and curiosity.

"Well you sure ain't my Puddin. Who are you and where the hell am I?"

The woman stepped forward and looked Harley over before speaking.

"I'm Amanda Waller, head of the United States ARGUS program but as far as you're concerned, I am _God_. Defy me and I can make your life a living hell. Play by my rules and I can make it easier. It's completely up to you Harley."

"What is this place?"

"You're the newest inmate of Belle Reve Penitentiary, a government black site. Outside of these walls no one knows you're here. In fact, since we've sealed your records it's almost as if you never existed."

Harley felt her heart begin to pound in her chest and she began to feel lightheaded as her breathing increased. How was Mistah J supposed to find her if no one knew where she was. She frantically looked around for a way out. Waller leveled her eyes at Harley.

"No one has ever escaped Belle Reve, so don't bother trying. This is the most secure facility in the United States. All of the guards are heavily armed and will use deadly force if you provoke them. My suggestion is, don't. Even if you were to get past security and the guards you'd have to traverse hundreds of miles of alligator and insect infested swamp to ever get to civilization."

"Why the hell am I here?"

"You have been recruited to fight for your country Miss Quinn. Task force X is a covert government operated task force consisting of convicted criminals with little to no hope for release. You will join a team of other expendable agents, preforming near-impossible black ops missions. A group of bad people who may actually be able to do a little good in the world."

Harley scrunched up her nose and sneered at Waller.

"And why exactly do you think I'd be willing to do that?"

Waller smiled and motioned to the handlers on either side of her. Harley watched as the man on her left opened a thin, black plastic box. In the dim light she could make out something resembling a gun. The man pulled the item from the padded interior of the box and removed a small covering on the end of the device. Harley began to panic again. She struggled against her bonds, but there wasn't enough slack to move very far.

"Whatta ya gonna do with that? What is it? Whatta ya doin?" The man approached her and placed the device to her neck. "Hey cut it out. Whatta ya…EEEYOWCH!"

She heard a sound like an air rifle as she felt a sharp pain shoot through her neck. Waller smiled as she held up her cell phone. Harley saw a picture of her face staring back underneath which was a button that said 'detonate'.

"That is a nanotech explosive. It's slightly larger than a grain of rice but powerful enough to blow your head clean off your shoulders. Disobey me, get yourself captured or desert your team and I will not hesitate to use it. Understood?" Harley remained silent, glaring at Waller's smug face. "Complete your mission successfully and I'll knock time off your sentence. Fail and you die. If you cooperate with us I may even be willing to reward you with additional creature comforts. Act out or try to escape and your privileges will be taken away. Break my rules and you _will_ be punished….severely, so do yourself a favor and don't fuck with me Quinn." As Waller turned to leave she called to the guards stationed just outside of the now open door. "Take her to her cell."

Harley glared after the she-devil as she waddled off down the dark corridor. She was going to kill that bitch if it was the last thing she did. She'd need to figure out how to disable the explosive in her neck in order to do it. She'd have to bide her time until she could come up with a plan to escape this hellhole. In the meantime she'd have to play along and be a good little convict until she got a lay of the land and figured out the logistics of how Belle Reve ran.

The guards escorted her down a series of hallways. Harley noted every turn, sign, and doorway they passed and committed it to memory. She was finally led to a large open room which, much like Arkham, held a series of cells with bulletproof glass fronts, each monitored by security cameras. As they pulled her along the block she was met with a series of cat calls and wolf whistles. She slowed her pace and looked into each cell as she passed. The first cell held a monstrosity. It was a huge, hulking beast that resembled a hammerhead shark crossed with a man. It smiled at her with its multiple rows of razor sharp teeth. Harley's jaw dropped as she stared at it.

"What the hell is that?" The guard to her right responded.

"That's King Shark. He's not very bright, but he's as strong as five men. I wouldn't get too close if I were you." The beast in the cell stood and began to yell.

"Meat! Meat! MEAT!" Harley rolled her eyes as the guard tugged her forward.

"Aww shut yer trap already Jabberjaw."

As they passed the next cell, its occupant, a tall, thin man with bushy brown hair and thick mutton chop style sideburns sat up from his cot to stare excitedly at Harley.

"Oi, Lawton, get a load of the new fish! She's a right spunk, mate! I think I might crack a fat."

Digger Harkness aka Captain Boomerang whistled at Harley as the man in the next cell over approached the glass and peered out at Harley. He was tall with a broad chest and shoulders. His short cropped hair and thin moustache were a black so deep the florescent light reflecting off it seemed almost blue. He was actually quite handsome in Harley's opinion. His dark blue eyes widened with recognition

"I'd watch it if I were you Digger. Do you know who that is?"

"Should I mate?"

"That's Harley Quinn, from Gotham City."

"The Joker's Missus? Strewth. I 'ere the kangaroos are loose in the top paddock with that one."

Lawton rolled his eyes at his Australian teammate.

"Yeah, she's crazy alright, and dangerous. What the hell is Waller thinking bringing in a wildcard like her to join the team?"

"Who the 'ell knows. Likely to get us all killed, I say. Crikey."

Harley flipped Boomerang the bird as the guards dragged her past his cell. She stuck her tongue out at the man the Aussie called 'Lawton' who seemed like he was slightly less of a douche than the Aussie. The next cell was vacant. The guards stopped and opened the door. Harley's restraints were removed and the door swung shut loudly behind her. She took in her surroundings. The cells were much bigger than the ones they had at Arkham Asylum. They had the standard metal commode bolted to the wall with a privacy partition and a small metal sink. The cot had a thin mattress atop it where a pile of fresh linens had been placed. She sat down and looked across the cell block at the other inmates. Directly across from her was a man of Hispanic descent. He was covered in tattoos from his bare feet to the top of his bald head. He kneeled with his hands folded together as if in prayer. The walls of his cell were covered in pictures of Catholic Saints and contrarily pictures of half-naked women, something that was never allowed in the asylum. Dr. Arkham prohibited pornographic materials, he felt it was an unnecessary and dangerous distraction to the criminally insane housed there.

The next cell held a small Asian fellow with a thick messy head of black hair. He looked up from a book of Sudoku puzzles he was currently working on and sheepishly waved at Harley. She politely waved back as he went back to completing his puzzle. She wished she could talk with them but the cell block was wide, much wider than the cell block in Intensive Treatment. Even if they yelled she doubted they would be able to adequately hear one another.

The two cells next to the Asian contained identical females. The twins were young and slender with copper colored hair and fair skin. Harley felt like she had seen them before and wracked her brain until she finally came up with their names. Light and Lime or Limelight as the Super-villain crowd referred to them. Their powers were unsurprisingly light related including the ability to create very realistic holograms. She seemed to remember that she and Mistah J had seen them on the news after they were captured by Green Arrow a few years back.

Harley spent a few minutes making up her bunk then walked to the front of her cell and paced for a while. Her head was reeling from the events of the day. She leaned against her cell wall and slid down until she was sitting Indian style on the floor. She thought about her Mistah J. How was he ever going to find her now that she was in a government black site? Even if he could figure out where she was, and he did finally forgive her, would he take the risk of trying to bust her out of a heavily fortified government base? She began to despair at the thought of never seeing her beloved again. Harley leaned her forehead on her crossed arms and began to sob uncontrollably. She was so lonely. At least in Arkham she had friends. Right now she felt isolated and depressed. The injection site of her nano-bomb ached. She wanted to go back home to Gotham City. She wanted to see Ivy and Jonathan and even that pompous ass Eddie Nygma. She wanted to be in session with Joan and lay in her own familiar cell. Thinking about it just made her cry even harder. From the cell beside her she heard a voice call out to her.

"Hey, Harley. Look, I know the first day in Belle Reve is tough, but trust me it's not really so bad. Chin up, girl. It'll get better. When we're on mission, you get to travel and enjoy fresh air and sunshine. Sometimes we even get a little down time to eat at a restaurant or have a few drinks in a bar."

Harley hiccoughed and sniffled as she wiped her hands across her cheeks as she tried to get her crying under control.

"Really?"

"Really. Hey, when a mission goes really well we get rewarded. Last week we got to see that new action movie about those Iraqi terrorists, complete with popcorn and Milk Duds. So it's not all bad. Just keep your nose clean. Oh and don't let Griggs get to you."

"Griggs? Whossat?"

"One of the head guards. He's a class-A schmuck, but he's a class-A schmuck with a lot of power. Don't let him provoke you, it's what he wants. He's the kind of dickhead who likes inflicting pain. Mess with him and you'll see the worst of Belle Reve."

"What's your name?"

"People call me Deadshot." The lights on the block began to dim. "Better get to your bunk now. The guards take lights out pretty seriously. I'll see you at breakfast."

Harley was grateful for even a few kind words and her chest swelled a little to think she might have just made her first friend in this nightmare of a facility.

"Thanks a lot, Deadshot. I really needed that."

"Ah, well it was nothing really. I remember my first day here too, even though it feels like forever ago now. Sleep tight kid. You'll get to meet the team in the morning."

"Goodnight and thanks again."

Harley lay on her cot staring at the ceiling as the lights in the block were switched off one by one. Sleep was a long time coming that night. She always slept poorly in a new place, even when she was with her Puddin. She wondered what kind of missions they'd go on. The thought of a little freedom and fresh air excited her. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all?


End file.
